


Somewhere after midnight

by silverynight



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, M/M, Oblivious Newt, Protective Original Percival Graves, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2020-04-19 17:19:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19137193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverynight/pseuds/silverynight
Summary: Vampires rule over the world now and Newt has been sold to one of them.What is he gonna do now?





	1. Chapter 1

Theseus says that a vampire attacked him, one that lives in the Capitol. And there’s no reason not to believe him, Newt knows Theseus would never lie to him, but the first thing he remembers (and the only one) after waking up in the house, with his brother’s face on his chest, is himself offering his wrist to a vampire.

But of course, he’s dizzy and weak and Theseus just saved his life by giving him some of his own blood in a transfusion, so it’s normal to be confused.

It’s been a long time since vampires took over the world and even though all his family believes they’re heartless monsters, Newt still thinks there are some that are not precisely evil.

He wants to believe the ones in charge are the problem, that not all vampires agree with using humans as slaves.

They all have to pay tribute to them, all humans, as soon as they turn 21, they have to give his blood every week to a vampire that needs it. It’s mandatory, even though humans have managed to develop synthetic blood for them.

No one wants that and humans are there to serve anyway.

All members of Newt’s family have to “donate” their blood if they want to keep their house and their place outside the Capitol.

But not Newt, he’s just 16 and he doesn’t know yet how that world works, but he’s aware of what happens behind the doors that lead to the Capitol, at least he knows what Theseus has told him.

That place is only for vampire elite and their beloved slaves/pets (humans that have been purposely selected to please them in every way).

Sounds terrible and Newt has learned to be scared of that place, but he still thinks there’s hope.

Unfortunately, life seems to want to crash that hope, for when Newt turns 18 his mother is murdered; vampires don’t like to call it a murder, to them it was an unfortunate accident.

“You fucking demons!” Theseus spits at the vampires that bring their mother’s body. Newt tries to calm his brother even though his own heart is breaking.

Their father falls to his knees and starts crying over her body. She’s pale, there’s no more blood in her.

Fortunately, the vampires are too bored to be angry at Theseus.

“Sometimes it happens, she was probably too hungry and couldn’t stop… The employees didn’t realize until it was too late.”

Newt has to hug his brother in order to stop him from jumping at their throat.

“She could’ve turned her,” Theseus says through gritted teeth. “To save our mother.”

“She didn’t want her as mate,” one of the vampires points out. “She wasn’t going to sacrifice herself just for a–”

“Thank you for informing us,” Newt mumbles, holding his brother, although he’s started to feel quite devastated himself.

The vampires seem to notice him then, one of them grins, fangs visible behind his lips.

“Are you a donor, beautiful?”

Theseus growls at them and pushes Newt behind himself; they seem to find it amusing.

“He’s only 18.”

“That’s a pity,” says the other vampire, winking at him. “I guess we’ll see each other in a couple of years then.”

When they’re gone, Newt holds back the tears while Theseus presses their foreheads together. Their father is still crying with their mother in his arms, Newt tries not to listen to his pain.

“I have to go,” Theseus mumbles, making Newt shiver. “I gotta find them so we can be free.”

“You’re not sure this community of hunters actually exists, ‘Seus” Newt sobs, desperate. He knows his brother has always believed in them. In these people that somehow managed to live in the forest and have turned themselves in vampire hunters.

He also knows that the only reason Theseus has stayed is because Newt asked him to. His brother could die out there, where the other vampires live, those that don’t consider humans anything else than food. They kill them.

All of them.

“Please don’t go,” Newt pulls his brother closer. “Or at least take us with you. Our father and I–”

“It’s too dangerous, little one,” Theseus kisses his cheek before looking back at him. “But I’ll come back for you.”

“For both of us,” Newt reminds him and Theseus looks at his father before grimacing. He’s never liked their father.

“I’ll miss you, Newt.”

The boy sighs, knowing there’s nothing he could do to change his mind.

“You better come back to me.”

“Always, little one.”

***

Newt’s father decides to drown himself in the cheapest alcohol he can buy. Newt tries to take care of him, but the man doesn’t seem to want to see him. He doesn’t even ask for Theseus.

When two vampires show up at his house, Newt is not surprised; his father can’t donate anymore and since Theseus is gone, there was going to be an issue sooner or later.

“Your father has been declared useless,” one of the vampires says. “He cannot be a donor anymore.”

“Also… We have here that your brother hasn’t been seen in a donation center in months, where’s he?”

“He ran away,” Newt lies, trying to relax. Every time someone mentions Theseus he can’t help but feel worried.

Both vampires look at each other and roll their eyes.

“He’s most likely dead by now,” one of them says and Newt flinches.

No, he refuses to believe that. His brother is strong, he’s a survivor.

“Well… Mr. Scamander,” the first vampire says and Newt realizes he’s actually talking to him. “Our community needs at least one donor per house in order to preserve your place here, do you understand?”

He nods. One of them strokes his cheek.

“Good boy.”

“We know you’re 19, but you need to start donating right now if you want to keep the house, okay?”

“Of course, I’ll do it. I’ll sign up tomorrow.”

“Perfect, doll. We’ll see you then.”

***

It hurts a lot to be bitten, especially because most of the vampires don’t really care about humans. On his first day, Newt sees a woman with a bandage around one of her wrists while one of the vampires in charge tells her that she has to start using the other one because that is just useless.

Newt is scared, although it doesn’t hurt as much as he had imagined. The vampire that feeds from him is kind, but seems to want to feed from his neck as well.

Fortunately, one of the employees sees them and she takes the vampire out of there. Because there are rules and they cannot feed from the humans’ neck.

Newt’s not sure why, but he’s grateful for that.

It’s been a month since he became an official donor when he meets Tina Goldstein. She’s a different vampire; she starts by apologizing as soon as Newt sits in front of her.

“I didn’t want to do this, but I’m hungry,” she mumbles. It seems the hunger has made talkative because she adds: “Queenie shares her mate with me sometimes, just so I can feed from him, but I know it bothers her. Vampires are very possessive after all, it’s in our nature.”

Newt doesn’t understand what she’s talking about and the names only make him feel more confused so he decides to try to make her comfortable.

“What’s your name?”

“Tina Goldstein.”

“I’m Newt Scamander,” and she starts smiling, looking at him in the eye.

“You’re pretty, Newt,” she blurts out and the human blushes. She keeps looking at his exposed wrist though. “Can I…”

“Of course.”

For a vampire that claims to be hungry, Tina doesn’t drink too much and she even is very gentle with him.

“Thank you, Newt.”

They see each other again, Newt actually prefers to feed her because she’s kind and she actually feels really comfortable around him.

Sadly, they can’t do that every single time and Newt has to endure some aggressive bites every now and then and also a few glances and touches that make him feel uncomfortable.

It doesn’t get worse than that at least.

***

Things start disappearing in the house because Newt’s father is running out of money to buy alcohol. Newt tries to help, he tries to talk to him, but his father is gone most of the time.

They have an argument one day because Newt won’t let him sell Theseus’s stuff and the boy freezes when his father yells something like: “why do you care? Your brother is dead anyway.”

Newt has to get out of the house for a couple of hours, to cry and tell himself that Theseus is coming back to him.

When he returns to the house, he finds the two vampires that brought his mother’s body that night.

His father is on the floor with bruises on his face and a bunch of golden coins around him.

“I’m so sorry, Newt. But I need this,” he cries and tries to reach out to him, but one of the vampires takes the boy in his arms and doesn’t let him go.

“Not yours anymore, you useless, filthy-blood,” the other huffs.

“What do you mean?” Newt mumbles. “What is going on, Dad?”

“Don’t worry, doll,” the vampire takes his chin with his hand in a painful grip. “Your life will get so much better anyway. A rich vampire will buy you and if you’re a good pet you’ll have anything you want.”

“Forgive me, Newt,” his father repeats before he passes out on the floor and he realizes that his father sold him.

“We’re going to the Capitol, doll.”


	2. Chapter 2

Newt’s eyes are covered almost immediately; he is not sure exactly when they get into the Capitol, but they do. The vampire that is carrying him is constantly trying to get his hand under Newt’s clothes, until his partner scolds him for it.

“You want the money?” The other growls, slapping the hand away from Newt. “The auction is tonight, if they notice he’s been touched they won’t pay us.”

Reluctantly, the vampire stops and Newt almost sighs of relief, although he knows sooner or later someone is going to touch him.

He’s left in a room with other people; Newt can’t see, but he knows they’re humans by the way some of them cry or beg to go back to the village.

The woman next to him gets hit when she starts sobbing uncontrollably and Newt gets hit when he tries to push away the vampire that’s trying to take off his clothes.

“Don’t hurt them!” Another vampire snarls. Newt can hear her heels a few feet away from him. “We need them to look pretty.”

She also insists that they cannot be bitten or marked in any way. But they get stripped and Newt feels vulnerable and scared.

He tries not to think about his brother or his father because he knows he’s going to cry if he does.

***

He’s not sure where they’re being taken to, but by the cold he feels he believes they’re not inside a room anymore. Newt is dropped and asked to kneel on a floor that feels like it is made of wood.

His hands are tied behind his back and the boy does everything in his power to not let himself panic. It’d be useless, he can do nothing to get out of there.

Maybe later, after he gets chosen, after he gets turned into a pet he can start thinking about escaping.

Not now.

He hears heels walking over the wooden floor again and someone sobbing, but the cries get quickly muffled by the sound of footsteps and excited whispers as the crowd of vampires gathers around what Newt assumes is some kind of platform.

The vampire using heels starts greeting the crowd and presenting all the pets she and her team have brought for them.

When the auction starts and Newt listens to the way she speaks about the other humans next to him, he’s not sure if he wants her to get to him already or to just completely forget about him.

Although he has the feeling that if he gets rejected he’ll be back into his captors’ arms and he definitely doesn’t want that.

“Look at this one, isn’t he a beauty?” She grabs Newt by his reddish curls and pulls to expose his neck. “He’s unmarked, ready for you to claim him. What do you say?”

They’re excited; she must know how to please a crowd because Newt doesn’t think for a moment they’re that enthusiastic just because of his looks.

He’s nothing special.

He’s overwhelmed by the yells and the amount of money that’s being offered. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his frightened heart; he has no idea whom he’s going to end up with.

The bid caller gasps suddenly and the place goes completely silent as someone yells an impossible, ridiculous sum.

After her initial shock, the vampire has to acknowledge him as the highest bidder because there’s no way someone’s going to offer more for Newt.

“Mr. Graves, I didn’t know you liked these kind of–what are you doing? You have to wait for the auction to end–”

A growl is enough to shut her up; Newt is shivering, someone has just jumped up the platform and now is dangerously close to him.

Fortunately, the vampire doesn’t touch him… yet.

“Who hurt him?” He sounds absolutely furious and Newt recoils instinctively, even though he knows it’s useless.

“I can assure you, Mr. Graves, that’s nothing to worry about, the bruises will disappear in a couple–”

It’s the second time he interrupts her and Newt can almost feel as his anger increases.

Graves repeats his question and the bid caller mumbles something in response.

Then, Newt hears a groan of pain and another growl followed by a terrifying: “If you touch him again I’ll bite your fucking head off, do you understand?”

Newt doesn’t hear the response, but it must’ve satisfied the vampire because the crowd sounds disappointed. They wanted to watch a fight.

The footsteps sound closer again and when Newt feels a fleeting touch on his shoulder he flinches away.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Newt,” the deep voice sound almost gentle now, close to his ear, which means the vampire is leaning towards him. But that doesn’t interest Newt as much as the fact that the vampire knows his name.

How?

The vampire unties him and takes away the piece of fabric that covers his eyes and Newt kind of wishes he wouldn’t have done that, because now he can see the vampires gathered around the platform, looking hungry and desperate and he can see the other humans next to him, trembling of fear.

It’s a heartbreaking scene.

But then he looks up at his… owner/master and realizes those dark eyes are kind when they look back at him. Still, Newt can’t trust him because if there’s something Newt has learned in the last couple of years is not to trust vampires.

Graves (as he assumes is the vampire’s name) takes off his coat and puts it over Newt’s shoulders; some of the vampires around gasp in shock at that.

Newt doesn’t care, he’s just glad he’s not naked anymore.

Graves offers his arm and Newt takes it because he’s sure he won’t be able to stand up on his own. His legs feel weak and he almost falls, but the vampire takes him by the waist.

“May I carry you?” He says and Newt can’t believe he’s asking for permission.

He nods, because even though he’s certainly afraid, the only thing he wants at the moment is to get out of there.

Mumbling soothing words into Newt’s ear, the vampire takes him in his arms gently and jumps off the platform gracefully; the other vampires get out of his way immediately.

Well… almost all of them.

“What about sharing, Graves? Have you thought about it? I can give you a generous sum for a few hours with–”

“I DO NOT SHARE,” Graves bares his teeth at him and half of the vampires around shiver in fear.

“What you were thinking, Henry?” Another vampire tells him. “He gave him his coat, of course he’s not going to share!”

No one dares to make another comment.

“I’ll take you home, Newt,” the vampire mumbles softly and it’s so weird to feel a gentle kiss on the forehead, although he could be dreaming because he’s so tired he’s not sure what is part of his imagination and what isn’t anymore.

He falls asleep almost immediately.

***

When Newt wakes up, he’s in front of a manor, in the arms of someone he doesn’t know; he panics and the vampire starts mumbling soothing things like “nothing’s gonna happen, no one is going to hurt you again,” and everything comes back to his mind almost immediately.

They get inside the house and Newt is still too tired to try to walk on his own.

“How many… vampires live here?” He asks, looking around the huge living room and wondering if he’s not just going to serve one master.

“It’s just me,” Graves mumbles, pulling him closer to his chest.

It’s a huge house for one vampire.

“Do you want me to take you to your bedroom now?” He asks and even though the word  _bedroom_  makes Newt shiver, he’s desperate for a bed.

“Please,” he whispers shyly and for a moment he thinks Graves smiles fondly at him.

They go upstairs and Newt tries to memorize everything so he doesn’t get lost next time he walks on his own, although it seems Graves has thought about it because he walks in the first room of the second floor. The human can’t help but gasp because it’s almost as big as the house he used to live in.

“This is your room,” Graves says and Newt is glad he doesn’t say ‘our’. “It’s next to mine, so if you need anything feel free to knock on my door, okay?”

Newt nods, thinking that’s definitely the last thing he’s going to do.

“The closet is full of clothes, you can choose anything you want.”

Oh, right, he’s still wearing the vampire’s coat. He probably wants it back. Newt nods and as soon as Graves leaves him on the bed, he takes off the coat and gives it back.

The vampire’s reaction is quite… weird. He stares at Newt’s body, clears his throat and looks away, taking the coat almost nervously.

“I’ll leave you so you can… put on some clothes.”

Newt narrows his eyes, a little bit confused, but doesn’t waste any time and walks towards the closet; he takes a pair of trousers and a sweater to feel a little bit more comfortable. Then he jumps on the bed and closes his eyes… just for a moment.

***

The smell of spaghetti wakes him up for the second time; he gets downstairs with caution, heart beating fast into his chest. A little bit confused, he watches as Graves sets up the table and puts two plates on it.

It looks absolutely mouthwatering.

The vampire looks up at him and there’s that fond expression on his face again.

“You look cute in that sweater,” he comments and Newt can’t stop himself from blushing.

“Thank you,” he mumbles.

“Are you hungry?”

Newt nods and clears his throat, nervous, before asking as well: “Are you?”

Graves sighs, gets closer to him and for a moment it looks like he’s going to touch Newt, but he stops himself at the last minute.

“I’m not going to feed from you.”

“Then…” Newt’s face turns even more red and for a moment he thinks that Graves looks flustered too. “Then you want me–”

“I’m not going to touch you either,” the vampire cuts him off, then he looks at the floor and adds, almost shyly: “if you don’t want to.”

“Then how do you–you go to the donation center or…”

“I have blood substitutes here,” Graves explains.

“I thought nobody wanted that.”

“Some of us do, even though it’s not the same,” he admits and Newt hopes he doesn’t change his mind about the synthetic blood.

“I’d never hurt you, Newt. You know that?”

Instead of answering, the human asks: “How do you know my name?”

Graves looks a little bit… hurt, but at the same time relieved.

It’s so confusing.

“So you don't–you mean that…” But he doesn’t say what he wants to; it looks like he’s having an internal battle with himself before sighing: “They told me.”

Newt sits at the table, Graves sits next to him.

“My name is Percival Graves and please call me Percival.”

Newt has never been around a vampire for long periods of time, except when he was in the donation center. And he has never seen any of them… eating.

“I thought you didn’t eat food.”

“We do… sometimes,” Gra–Percival says. “We don’t need it, but we enjoy the taste.”

Newt nods and starts eating his spaghetti in silence and can’t help but moan. It’s delicious.

Percival looks back at him completely satisfied and Newt can’t believe that a vampire seems to enjoy pleasing a human.

Percival is a weird vampire, but that doesn’t mean Newt can trust him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can read more fics on my tumblr. :)


	3. Chapter 3

It takes a couple of seconds for Newt to remember why he has woken up in a bedroom he doesn’t recognize. Then he decides he’s hungry enough to walk downstairs to get some breakfast. Although he’s a little bit surprised when he finds Percival sitting at the table with a cup of coffee next to him.

His lips quirk up as soon as he looks at Newt.

“I thought you slept during the day,” the human comments, taking a few pancakes from the counter. He’s still has no idea why Percival likes to do these kind of things for him.

“The older we are, the less we sleep,” the vampire says, amused. Then he rises from his seat, walks towards Newt and sits right next to him. “When you’re done, I’d like to show you the rest of the house, if you don’t mind.”

Even though Newt thinks he doesn’t have any other choice, he finds himself genuinely curious about the place.

He finishes quickly and follows Percival through a series of hallways and rooms that have a couple of paintings Newt assumes are Percival’s ancestors. Perhaps his family, some of them look a lot like him.

But Newt knows almost immediately which ones are his favourite places: the garden and the library. It’s even clear to Percival because Newt can’t stop himself from grinning.

“You can take any book you want,” the vampire says and even though Newt is fascinated looking around, he can feel Percival’s eyes on him the whole time.

“Thank you,” he mumbles and he’s already planning on taking one of those when he gets startled by a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Newt,” the vampire apologizes, looking like he’s truly sorry about it. “I just wanted to give you something.”

Newt tries not to grimace at the velvet collar and the golden initials P.G. on it. Although it seems he doesn’t do a very good job hiding what he feels, because Percival strokes his cheek, looking like he doesn’t like it either.

“It’s the only way you can go out to explore the Capitol during the day on your own,” he explains. “There are not many vampires out there in the day, but just in case…”

Newt looks at the collar, even though he doesn’t like what it represents, he has to admit that it’s pretty.

“No one will hurt you if you wear this,” Percival mumbles and Newt nods; at least it’ll help him find a way to get out of there.

He needs to know what happened with Theseus and if his father is still okay.

Of course it hurts what his father did to him, but Newt also knows he was consumed by his addiction when he took that decision; he was desperate.

“I need to go, Newt. But I’ll be back before night,” Percival says, kissing the human’s hand before walking away.

Newt’s blush spreads all over his face, although he tries not to think about that and decides to put on the collar.

Time to explore the Capitol.

***

He hadn’t expected to find so many humans walking around the Capitol; it makes him feel a little bit better somehow. He also realizes that there’s absolutely no guards keeping an eye on the entrance. Although the door is closed and there’s the wall of course.

Newt looks around as the men and women buy food on the streets and they talk to each other and laugh, like they’re not wearing collars on their necks, like some of them don’t look completely exhausted. Newt can see blood running down the necks of a few people and he shivers nervously.

Purposely ignoring how shy he is, Newt approaches a few of them to ask about the guards.

Most of the people he talks to almost laugh at his face.

“Why would they need guards during the day?” A girl snorts. “It’s not like it’s easy to get inside and none of us is going to try to get out anyway.”

“Why not?”

“Well… you’ve been out there, pretty boy. We’re slaves anyway, the only difference is here we only have to feed our masters and we get more food for it,” she says. “Why would I want to get back?”

“To see your family.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re glad I have a better life now…”

Newt is not sure this is what a person should call a better life. The other girl next to them looks at his collar and grins.

“Look at that! You’re Graves’s, that vampire is hot, I wanted him to choose me when I got here.”

“Me too,” says the other, getting closer to Newt. “How is he in bed, pretty boy?”

The human blushes, shaking his head while the two girls keep begging him just to tell them something… anything about him.

Fortunately, a man takes him by the shoulder and smiles kindly at the women.

“Sorry, girls. I have to borrow him for a while.”

Newt sighs, relieved and looks back at the man with dark hair and mustache with a huge smile.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, pal. You looked overwhelmed. You must be new, am I right?” He chuckles. “I’m Jacob.”

Newt notices the Q.G. initials on his collar.

“I’m Newt, nice to meet you.”

“Come, you must be hungry!”

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Newt stops, looking again at Jacob’s collar. “What about your… vampire?”

“Of course it’s okay! And don’t worry, she and her sister will love you!”

Newt is pretty sure Percival wouldn’t like it, but he feels like he can trust Jacob, besides, he likes him.

***

Jacob assures he doesn’t feel like he’s a slave when he’s with his vampire; he’s in love with her and Newt can see that in the way he speaks about her.

And when he finally meets her, he realizes she’s in love too.

She’s a vampire with blond hair and a kind smile that not only directs to her human but at Newt as well.

“I haven’t see a human so pretty before,” she comments, making Newt blush. “You must be from the group that arrived last night, right sweetie?”

Newt nods, feeling suddenly shy.

“Oh, sorry! Where are my manners? I’m Queenie Goldstein, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Newt Scamander,” he mumbles, pretty sure he has heard Queenie’s name before.

“Please sit down, sweetie. My Jacob is going to bring us some of his pastries while we talk,” she grins, looking at Newt’s collar with curiosity. “I didn’t know Mr. Graves was interested in having a human.”

“He’s… he’s nice.” Newt mumbles, having no idea what else to say.

“Of course he is,” she says, stroking Newt’s soft curls. “He’s a great vampire, you’ll be safe with him.”

He feels a little bit relieved when Jacob comes back with the pastries and he doesn’t have to actually talk; Queenie keeps doing it though, explaining to him the essential things he needs to know about the Capitol.

“You don’t have to interact with other vampires if you don’t want to, everyone here must respect (and I’m really sorry to say it like this, honey) each other’s property. Although there will be certain events that you must attend, like the welcome dance that it’s always celebrated a couple of days after a group of humans enter the city officially.”

Newt has never liked those kind of events, not even when there were just humans in invited.

“You’ll be fine, just remember: if a vampire that is not your master asks you to dance, don’t accept, it’s considered an insult to your vampire. Of course, I don’t think anyone would dare to ask you, Mr. Graves is one of the most feared vampires around here.”

Newt nods; he supposes he has to dance with Percival then, although it’d be hard to do it without thinking of Theseus.

He misses his brother so much.

“Also, don’t get too close to Grindelwald,” Jacob mumbles, making Queenie roll her eyes.

“Who’s Grindelwald?”

“Our leader,” the vampire explains and then looks at her boyfriend (she doesn’t like to call him her pet) with an amused smile. “Love, I told you already, he’s not that bad. Maybe a little bit of a traditionalist, that’s all.”

“I don’t trust him,” Jacob insists and Newt thinks that, as a human, he should follow his advice over Queenie’s.

“Newt?”

The human rises from the couch when he sees his friend Tina walking into the living room; she smiles at him even though she looks really tired.

“Tina!” He jumps into her arms, glad to see a familiar face in the Capitol.

“Oh, Teenie! Newt’s the human you have been feeding from,” Queenie says. “The one you used to talk me about. You’re right, he’s really cute.”

“How have you been? It’s been a while since I saw you,” Newt grins, but the smile vanishes as soon as he notices the shadows under her eyes. “You keep going to the donation center, right?”

“I haven’t had the time lately.” She admits, moving away from him, looking at her feet.

“You must be starving!”

Jacob hears and walks towards her slowly.

“You should’ve told me,” he mumbles and he doesn’t notice Queenie growing tense behind him, but everyone else does.

Newt is still the closest to her and quickly exposes his wrist, offering it to her.

“Here,” he whispers and watches as Tina stares at the veins with fascination and fear.

She touches his collar instead.

“Mr. Graves is going to kill me.”

“He won’t,” Newt assures. “He doesn’t feed from me. He has synthetic blood.”

And that actually surprises everyone in the room. He’s not sure if it’s because almost no one drinks it or just ‘cause it’s really expensive, like Tina told him once.

She used to say that was the reason why she didn’t drink it.

The hunger must be stronger this time because she takes Newt’s hand and just bites his wrist without warning. It hurts a lot more than the last time she bit him.

He starts to feel a little bit dizzy and Queenie has to tap Tina’s shoulder for her to let him go.

“I’m so sorry, Newt! Allow me to heal the wound at least…”

“No, it’s fine,” the human steps back, closer to Jacob. The man quickly brings him a couple of bandages to cover his wrist. “I’ll be okay.”

“Newt, I'm–I was very hungry and you taste so sweet… I–”

“I understand, Tina,” he smiles, pulling his sweater to cover the bandages. “I need to go back to Percival’s house.”

“He’s going to kill me,” Tina repeats, shivering a little bit.

“He doesn’t drink from me,” Newt insists and Queenie looks back at him with curiosity.

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to, sweetie.”


	4. Chapter 4

The bite still hurts. Newt looks at the bandage and realizes the wound is still bleeding a little bit. He goes to his bedroom to try to clean it when he hears the door.

“Newt, are you–” Percival interrupts himself suddenly and the next thing he knows is that the vampire is next to him, eyes turning dark with anger. “Who did this to you?”

It’s a growl; the only time Newt has heard Percival do that was when he attacked that other vampire the night of the auction. When the human flinches away from him though, Percival’s expression softens considerably.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, Newt. I never would,” he mumbles. “I’m angry with the vampire who did this to you, but don’t worry, I’ll deal with them. Right now, I need to heal that.”

“It’s not necessary, I'm–” but Newt can’t even finish, because Percival takes him by the waist and sits him on his lap. He rips the bandage off and leans to lick the bite.

Newt gasps and shivers at the sensation; it’s not an unpleasant one and the wound closes almost immediately after that.

“Your blood is… sweet,” Percival smiles, before kissing Newt’s wrist repeatedly. “Just like I rem–”

He doesn’t finish the sentence though, instead he puts one of his hands on the back of the human’s neck and presses their foreheads together.

“I’m sorry for not being there to protect you,” he mumbles and when he looks back at Newt’s hand his eyes turn dark, but he tries to control it. “They have no right to touch you, I’m gonna–”

“I offered her my blood,” Newt cuts him off. “Please don’t be mad at her.”

“You…” Percival blinks, face twisted in pain. “Why?”

“Because she was starving, besides, I’ve known her for a while; she always tried to choose me in the donation center.”

For a moment, Newt thinks Percival is hurt, because the pain in his expression is so evident…

He takes the human’s hand and presses it to his cheek, closing his eyes before kissing it, making Newt blush.

“Are you two… close?”

Newt is a little bit confused by the question, but after a couple of seconds he nods, smiling.

“I like her.”

Percival moves away, leaving him on the bed, gently. He narrows his eyes at Newt’s wrist.

“Well… if she really loves you, she should learn to take better care of you,” he huffs. “That bite was really… aggressive.”

“She was hungry–”

“She couldn’t have hurt you,” Percival insists, upset. He looks irritated and sad at the same time. “You must be hungry, Newt. Would you like me to make you something to eat?”

Newt shakes his head.

“You don’t need to do this, really. I can cook for myself,” the human grins, but Percival doesn’t smile back.

He just nods.

“I’ll be in the study if you need anything,” he mumbles before walking away. Newt doesn’t know much about vampires, but he has the feeling that something’s wrong.

Why does he look so sad?

***

The next morning is… awkward. Because Percival is sitting at the table, looking at a cup of coffee in front of him and pretending he’s not following Newt’s movements.

Then, the vampire sighs, puts the cup aside and stares at Newt with that same pained expression of the other night.

“So… are you going to see her again today?” Percival mumbles, trying to look like he doesn’t really care about it.

“Of course, I also want to see my new friends,” Newt smiles, but then again the vampire doesn’t smile back.

“Would you let her bite you on the neck?” Percival seems more tense after that particular question.

“I don’t… think so. Should I?”

“No!” The vampire almost snarls, but he manages to control himself a little bit. “I’m sorry. Actually, you can do whatever you want. But I thought… since you two are, you know…”

“Friends? Is that something a human should do if he’s friends with a vampire?” Newt asks and becomes considerably more confused when Percival sighs, almost relieved.

“Friends, you said?” He grins from ear to ear when Newt nods. “Well… Then no, you shouldn’t let her bite your neck if you two are just friends…”

“She didn’t want to do it, actually,” the human explains. “Bite me I mean… But Tina has never liked the donation centers that much and she doesn’t have synthetic blood.”

“Tina Goldstein?” Percival mumbles, curious. “Is that the vampire you’re talking about?”

“Yes. I also like her sister Queenie and her boyfriend Jacob.”

“I know them too,” he says. “And I can give her the substitutes she needs. Actually, we can both pay them a visit and bring them personally.”

Newt beams at him and Percival blinks, flustered.

“That’s a great idea!” He’s excited to see them again and honestly happy because he knows Tina won’t starve again; she looked really weak and tired the other day.

Although that means he won’t be able to explore the Capitol again; he can’t forget about Theseus.

He still needs to get out of there.

***

Tina is the one that opens the door for them and Newt is not sure if he’s imagining it, but for a brief moment it looks like she turns even more pale when she looks at Percival Graves.

“Oh, Sir! I’m really sorry! I didn't–”

“Newt explained everything to me,” Percival dismisses her apologies with a gesture of his hand and gives her a small box of substitutes. “Here, so you don’t have to… So you don’t starve again.”

Tina stares at him for a moment and Newt has a weird feeling; it’s almost like they’re communicating just with their eyes.

“I understand, Sir. It won’t… happen again.”

Queenie sees them in the entrance and invites them in. Jacob hugs Newt and promises he’s going to bring some of his pastries.

They all sit on the couch, except Newt because Percival puts both his hands on the human’s hips and pulls him over his lap.

“Please…” He whispers in his ear, before burying his face in the curve of his neck. Newt has no idea why he is so obsessed with having him so close, but he decides not to fight it.

Queenie seems to find it really amusing though.

“I was talking to Newt about the dance,” she says.

“I had forgotten about that,” Percival admits, although he seems more interested in running his fingers through Newt’s curls. “Is it tonight, isn’t it?”

“Tonight?” Newt feels like he’s not prepared yet to face dozens of vampires. Without even realizing what he’s doing, he moves closer to Percival.

“It’s okay, Newt. No one is going to hurt you,” Percival assures, hands on the human’s hips. “You’ll dance with me, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Newt mumbles and the vampire nuzzles the man’s soft neck, almost lovingly.

“You’re doomed, Mr. Graves,” Queenie comments, ignoring the way Tina nudges her.

“I think you’re right, Miss Goldstein.”

***

In Newt’s closet, there’s already plenty of clothes almost his size that he has no idea how Percival managed to get or why did he get them.

He decides to put on a blue suit and blushes when the vampire takes him in his arms and whispers a couple of times in his ear how beautiful he looks.

Of course, he has to wear the collar, even though his vampire is with him.

***

It’s not as scary as Newt thought; it looks more or less like a ball for humans, only more elegant, because humans don’t have much money to throw a party or dance like that one.

Also, vampires don’t seem to acknowledge him at all, they only make comments on how beautiful he is, but to Percival. It’s like he doesn’t even exist and in that particular moment it doesn’t bother Newt at all.

But it irritates Percival, who puts a hand on Newt’s waist to pull him closer and whispers to him he shouldn’t care about them.

“It’s okay,” he assures. “I don’t mind.”

Percival takes him to the dance floor though and Newt finds out he’s as good as Theseus. It’s easy for the human to follow his lead.

The music is absolutely mesmerizing and Newt forgets for a moment where he is, that he hasn’t received any news from Theseus since he left or that his father is probably lying on the floor, too drunk to even get up.

He closes his eyes and feels as Percival presses their foreheads together and it’s nice to think for a moment that he’s not alone, that someone is there for him.

“Mr. Graves… I’m sorry, Sir, but Madam Picquery wants to have a word with you,” a vampire mumbles, nervous. It’s like he’s expecting Percival to get mad.

Well… he looks a little bit irritated for the interruption though.

“I’ll be right back,” he promises Newt, leaving him back on their table, kissing his cheek before leaving.

Newt wonders where Tina, Queenie and Jacob could be. There are many people in there already and it’s difficult for Newt to look for them.

Perhaps he should just wait for Percival to go back.

“Hello, beautiful. Would you dance with me?” For a moment Newt thinks the vampire with mismatched eyes is talking to someone else, but he quickly realizes he’s the only one sitting at the table.

The vampire is leaning towards him, offering his hand and Newt is not sure if he doesn’t know about the rules or he just doesn’t care Newt has already a collar around his neck. Suddenly he feels like other vampires around are watching them and he gets a little bit nervous.

“I’m… sorry. I can’t,” he mumbles, remembering Queenie’s instructions.

The vampire looks surprised, but not angry, not at least like the other one that walks towards them with fire in her eyes.

“How dare you deny our Lord, you piece of–”

“If I were you I wouldn’t finish that sentence,” the vampire with mismatched eyes warns, in the blink of an eye he puts himself between her and Newt, like he’s protecting him. “And, by the way, if you–if any of you touch him I’ll rip off your throats.”

“But, my Lord–”

“Now, please leave.”

She does, along with the other curious vampire that were watching the scene with fascination.

“I’m sorry, darling,” the vampire caresses Newt’s cheek gently. “They won’t hurt you. You have my protection.”

By the way he says it, it sounds like something important, also Newt didn’t miss the word “Lord” used almost every time the others were addressing him.

“Can I sit here?” He grins when Newt nods and picks the chair that’s right next to the human. “I’m Gellert Grindelwald.”

Well… that explains a lot. Suddenly, Newt feels a little bit flustered.

“Newt… Scamander,” he mumbles, blushing when Grindelwald takes his hand to kiss it.

“How did you end up here, beautiful?”

Newt has tried to not to think about that day, about how scared he was or how heartbroken he felt… He’s been keeping his emotions inside, thinking that his Dad was not really himself when he took that decision.

He thinks about Theseus and how worried he’s been… How much he wants to see him again. He doesn’t realize he has started tearing up until Grindelwald wipes the tears off with his thumbs.

“I’m sorry, Liebling. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

“Someone sold me,” he blurts out, surprising himself.

“I’d say that’s terrible and it somehow is… because it looks you loved them and they betrayed you,” Grindelwald whispers. “But you see, darling… I can’t actually feel upset about it, because if it had not happened, I wouldn’t have met you.”

Newt realizes then, when he’s able to ignore his own sorrow for a moment, that he shouldn’t trust him and moves out of his reach.

Grindelwald whines.

“I’m sorry, Newton. You don’t have to be afraid of me, I’d never hurt you.” He narrows his eyes at Newt’s collar and adds: “Has Graves hurt you?”

Newt shakes his head.

“He’s nice to me.”

Grindelwald rises from his seat and takes a step closer.

But someone gets in the middle of the two to Grindelwald’s irritation.

“Graves, I’m glad to see you here. Although I never thought I’d see you with a human at your side. He’s gorgeous–”

“None of your business,” Percival tries to hold back a growl, but it’s pretty much obvious he’s pissed. “He’s mine.”

“It’s kind of my business since this is my city,” Grindelwald glares at him. “Don’t forget that, Graves.”

Scared, Newt pulls Percival by the sleeve and both vampires notice his fear, but at least it helps to make them calm down a little.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, beautiful,” Grindelwald tells Newt with a smile on his lips. It looks like he wants to take Newt’s hand, but Percival is still in front of the human. Instead, Grindelwald just winks at him before walking away.

Percival is fuming.

“Please, Newt… Don’t get close to him again. He’s dangerous.”


	5. Chapter 5

Despite of the “argument” Grindelwald and Percival have, Newt has a great time in the ball, he also gets to talk with Queenie and Tina too.

But because the event is during the night, Newt finds himself completely exhausted when Percival and he go back to the house. He is practically asleep when the vampire takes him in his arms and leaves Newt on the bed. And because he’s so tired, he’s not sure if the kiss on the forehead is real or not.

It probably isn’t.

He sleeps almost the entire morning and wakes up still a little bit tired, although he wants to see his friends and since Percival is nowhere to be seen, the human just takes a piece of bread and gets himself ready to pay a visit to his friends.

Newt’s been thinking about it a lot and wants to know if Tina could help him to get out of there; Percival has been really nice to him, but he needs to see his father and start looking for his brother.

Unfortunately, he only finds Queenie in the house and although he really likes her he knows Tina better and he’s not sure how her sister is going to react to that.

“Sorry, sweetie, Tina had a meeting with Picquery and my Jacob is still asleep,” she smiles, moving out of the way to let him in. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

When she comes back with the two cups; she looks through the window behind Newt, but when he looks back it seems like there’s nothing there.

“Sorry, sweetie. I have to go… But I’ll be back in a couple of minutes, okay?” Queenie mumbles, winking at him before adding: “Make yourself at home.”

Newt feels a little bit confused… Although luckily, Jacob wakes up a couple of minutes after the vampire left and they both start baking some pastries.

“She didn’t mention where she was going?” Jacob frowns when Newt shakes his head; he doesn’t seem very pleased about it. “Well… I suppose it’s okay, let’s just forget about it, shall we?”

While Newt’s making sure to follow Jacob’s instructions carefully, he starts thinking if he should tell him about his plan; maybe he can give him some advice as how to get out of there, he’s been in the Capitol longer than him anyway.

But then Queenie comes back and Jacob looks back at her in such a way that makes her smile a little bit nervously.

“Honey, please tell me you didn’t,” the human mumbles, prompting Newt to frown in confusion.

“He wants to help, Jacob!” She assures, taking a step closer to him. “He just wants to talk to Newt. Newt, you trust me, right? I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you!”

Newt starts getting nervous and doesn’t exactly know what to say, especially because Jacob still looks upset.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” the redhead flinches when he recognizes that voice. Percival had told him he was a dangerous vampire. “I’d never hurt you either, beautiful. I said that the other day, didn’t I? You don’t have to be afraid of me.”

Grindelwald walks inside the house and takes Newt’s hand to kiss it gently.

“I just wanted to see you again.”

Newt nods, he supposes he has no other choice but to stay and although he doesn’t think Queenie would have brought someone to her own home to hurt him, he still doesn’t know exactly who Grindelwald is.

They all sit in the living room; the vampire with mismatched eyes sits right next to him and looks at him with such an intensity Newt’s not used to.

“I’ve never seen a human like you before,” Grindelwald caresses Newt’s cheek carefully, almost like he’s afraid of hurting him. “You’re unique.”

He’s never felt special at all, so he doesn’t know what to say and it’s even more difficult because he’s making him flustered.

“Grindelwald is going to make marriage between humans and vampires legal, isn’t that great?” Queenie blurts out suddenly, she’s so excited about it Newt suspects she was dying the whole time to tell them.

Jacob’s brow quirks up.

“Really?”

“I know you don’t like me, Mr. Kowalski,” Grindelwald looks at him with a smirk. “But I beg you, please give me an opportunity to prove I just want the best for us.”

Jacob doesn’t say anything else, but still doesn’t look very much convinced, although Grindelwald doesn’t seem to care that much about it.

He looks back at Newt.

“Miss Goldstein is right, I think marriage is going to make vampires and humans have a more equal and… loving relationship,” he takes Newt’s hand while he smiles kindly at him, mismatched eyes full of hope. “I can easily imagine myself getting married to a pretty human too.”

Maybe that’s the reason why he’s helping Queenie; Grindelwald probably has a human he wants to get married to.

“You know…” The vampire mumbles, still staring at Newt. “That Graves could be challenged by another vampire if they want you for themselves?”

“But… Percival is nice and gentle!” Newt panics a little bit, thinking about the vampires he met before; thinking about how cruel they were to him and his family. “I don’t want to have another… master.”

“Liebling, Graves is not the only vampire that can give you anything you want, you know?” Grindelwald assures, before making Newt gasp when the vampire kisses his nose. “Don’t be afraid… I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”

He keeps saying that, but Newt is not sure about it; he’s had very bad experiences with other vampires before.

***

Newt doesn’t know what to do; he’s been pacing in his room since he got back to the house. Grindelwald said he wanted to see him again and Queenie assured him that didn’t go against any rules in the Capitol and even though none of them mentioned anything about don’t letting Percival know, Newt is not sure if he should tell him.

He doesn’t want him to get mad at Queenie for helping Grindelwald, however, he wants to be honest with him, besides… if Percival knew Grindelwald was nice to him, his vampire wouldn’t get that mad.

Maybe.

“Newt?” The human turns around quickly, forgetting about his problem as soon as he sees the worried expression on Percival’s face. “I need to talk with you.”

Feeling like something’s wrong, Newt sits on his own bed and waits for the vampire to join him. Although he doesn’t expect him to take both his hands in his and bringing them to his face to kiss them repeatedly.

“I know what happened to your father, what he did to you–”

“He was drunk… he’s an addict and looked like he was sorry when he… sold me,” Newt blurts out, trying not to cry again.

“I know… I didn’t like it, but I wanted to talk to him,” Percival stops, he takes a deep breath and caresses Newt’s soft curls. “I found him dead this morning, Newt.”

He knew it was going to happen sooner or later; Newt is not naive, he knew if his father didn’t get help, he was going to be consumed by the alcohol he was drinking.

But it still hurts, even after… everything. He sobs and snuggles against Percival, seeking comfort.

“What happened?” He still asks, even though he knows.

Percival puts his arms around him and at the moment Newt thinks he’d gladly stay there for the rest of the day.

“He was killed by a vampire,” Percival mumbles and Newt looks up at him with pain and horror in his eyes.

“Who did it?”

“I don’t know, but I promise I’ll find out, Newt. I promise.”

Newt thinks of the two vampires who bought him that night; he wonders if his father pissed them off…

But his death only makes him worry more about Theseus. How can he know if he’s not… No, he’s okay… He needs to be okay.

“I don’t want to be alone,” he sobs over Percival’s shoulder and this time he doesn’t even flinch when the vampire sits him on his lap.

“You’re not alone, Newt. You have me. You’ll always have me.”


	6. Chapter 6

“I want to see my home again,” Newt mumbles waiting for Tina’s response. She doesn’t react too well.

“We could be punished for that, Newt,” the vampire protests, already frowning with concern.

“I thought vampires were free to get out of the Capitol whenever they wanted,” the human looks back at her, cup of tea still on the table, untouched.

“We are, sweetie,” Queenie says; she’s the most positive of the group and yet she’s not smiling today. She seems to be as worried as her sister. “Humans are not.”

“If someone finds out we got you out of here, they’ll punish us and probably kill you if Graves demands it.” Tina explains, making Newt shiver.

“He wouldn’t do something like that,” he stammers, trying not to think what Theseus would say about it.

_Are you honestly gonna trust a vampire?_

But Newt really thinks Percival wouldn’t hurt him. Although he wouldn’t be happy about it either.

“I just want to see my house again… please.” Newt doesn’t mean to sound so desperate and broken, but he is. He wants to give himself some hope, to see if he can find something that gives him a clue about what happened to his father and his brother.

It doesn’t matter if his brother doesn’t come back for him; he just wants to know he’s alright and happy.

Jacob hugs him and Tina sighs, worry still on her face.

“Fine, I’ll take you there,” she mumbles then looks at Jacob and Queenie and adds: “You two are going to stay here.”

“Right now?” Newt feels a little bit nervous and excited at the same time.

“No. Tomorrow morning. I need to plan this carefully.”

***

Newt is nervous because of what is going to happen tomorrow, so he decides to go to Percival’s library to distract himself a little bit.

The vampire hasn’t returned yet, although it’s not like Newt is worried or anything, it’s just a little bit weird. However, he knows that Percival like many other vampires that live in the Capitol have a lot of things to do for the city.

He sighs, trying to read as many titles as possible to make a decision, but it’s difficult considering his thoughts are not actually in the present.

_The Nightingale and the Rose_.

Newt takes the book in his hand and opens it; the first time he read that story he was a child and he cried for the bird until his eyes turned red with sorrow. Theseus had to come to his room and hug him that night.

He was so upset; mumbling constantly about humans and vampires and wondering if someone… anyone knew how to love.

Theseus had a clear response for him.

“Vampires don’t know how to love, Newt and they never will,” he whispered over his brother’s hair. “But humans do, we do. I love you, little one.”

Some vampires do, don’t they? Newt puts the book back in place as he remembers Queenie… She loves Jacob.

“Newt.”

The deep voice startles him, even though he has heard it many times before… He knows it’s just Percival behind him.

He turns around only to find the vampire with a plate full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It’s something he’s heard the humans of that zone like very much; Newt hadn’t had the opportunity to taste one until he got there; he actually likes them.

“Thank you,” he mumbles, taking one, trying not to pay too much attention to Percival’s pleased expression. The vampire seems to enjoy when he makes Newt smile.

“Have you picked one yet?” The vampire grins, looking at the bookshelf.

Newt shakes his head, still enjoying his sandwich. Then, when he looks back at Percival’s dark eyes he starts feeling bad for hiding things from him.

“Well, if you’re not sure… let’s talk first.”

He takes one of Newt’s hands and leads him towards the couch where he sinks into it, sitting Newt on his lap. The human is not sure if it’s something vampires do often, but it seems to calm Percival and Newt has gotten used to it.

“Grindelwald is acting… odd,” Percival mumbles against Newt’s neck, like he’s trying to seek comfort in the human’s scent.

The first time he did that Newt was scared, but he’s spent a lot of time with Percival; he knows he’d never hurt him.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s started to drink synthetic blood and encouraging everyone to do the same to avoid hurting their humans as much as possible,” Percival explains, almost blurting everything out.

“But that’s a good thing,” Newt says.

Perhaps Queenie is right and the only thing Grindelwald wants is to help.

“Of course it is, love,” Percival mumbles so quietly against his skin that Newt is completely sure he imagined the last word. “But I don’t trust Grindelwald. I think he’s planning something. Please, please… don’t go near him.”

It’s the second time he says something like that and Newt didn’t… He hasn’t told him what happened the other day. Is it too late to tell him he saw Grindelwald, that he talked to him? Will he get mad at him if he tells him?

No, Newt can’t tell him.

“I won’t,” he mumbles, feeling incredibly guilty.

***

“We have to take his collar off and apply something that masks his human scent,” Tina mumbles, looking at him from head to toe. “Perhaps add something that covers a little bit your face. Just in case; there’s almost no vampires at this hour, but we can’t take risks.”

“Lavender,” Queenie mumbles, taking a bottle and applying it on Newt’s neck after removing the collar.

Jacob helps Newt put on a hooded coat while Tina wears something similar; she takes a deep breath and holds Newt’s hand.

They’re both nervous, but Newt cannot stop now, he needs to do this.

Fortunately, Tina’s right and the city looks almost empty at that hour in the morning. Even though vampires could perfectly walk outside, they prefer the night.

“The front door is always closed during the day,” Tina explains in a whisper next to him. She takes out a small key. “But all vampires have one like this, to open the small door behind the tree at the other end of the main entry. I always keep this in my room, in case I need it.”

Newt looks at the silver key with curiosity and takes a deep breath when they reach the second entrance.

“Why there are no guards around?”

“They’re just worried about their humans,” Tina explains, opening the door and pushing him in front of her. “And none of the humans who live here want to get out; either because they’re afraid or simply because they genuinely think they’re better in the Capitol.”

Newt must admit… They have a point, at the other side there’s the same fear of being killed by a vampire, only there most of people don’t have enough money to buy decent food. They’re constantly hungry.

“Come here, Newt. We’ll get there quicker if I carry you.”

She’s right. They get there in just seconds and Newt has to admit… He gets surprised by what he sees. Newt knows his house is basically abandoned and whoever got inside to kill his father left probably a mess, but he was definitely not prepared to see it.

“You said… your father–”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, Newt,” Tina mumbles. “You said you wanted to see your house again, but you also wanted to know what happened to him, right?”

“Well… yes,” Newt whispers, hoping she’s not upset, but Tina doesn’t say anything, she just nods.

“Let me help you then. Perhaps I can find something,” she mumbles, before getting inside one of the rooms.

Newt is looking at the dry blood on the floor when he gets startled by the light coming from the window. He moves closer only to see it’s coming from the house next to his.

Having a weird feeling about the whole thing, Newt gets out of his home, without letting Tina know.

A woman with dark hair gets out of the other house; Newt barely remembers her, in that place almost no one talked with their neighbors; they were too busy trying to survive.

She makes a hand gesture for him to get closer and Newt does just that even though part of him thinks it could be a trap.

“I saw your brother… two days ago.” She mumbles, breathing heavily, looking around almost like expecting to be attacked at any moment.

Newt gasps, feeling some tears in his eyes; it’s real, it has to be, she has no reason to lie to him.

“How…” He can’t even speak because of all the emotions he’s experiencing at the moment.

“He looks different, he’s… wild. He didn’t come alone though, there are people with him that look like hunters,” she takes a deep breath. “They gave me food. Perhaps it’s real, boy… what they say about them.”

“But Theseus, what did he–”

“I told him they took you; he was really upset, desperate… He wanted to get in the Capitol to rescue you, the ones with him said it was too risky. But I think he’s still planning to do it.”

“It’s dangerous! He can’t…” Newt blurts out, scared. His brother can’t risk his life like that; he knows a message warning him against it would never be enough. “Tell him I want to talk with him. I’ll be in our house in three days, please tell him to wait for me.”

“I hope they come back tomorrow, if they do, I’ll give him your message.” She mumbles, shaking a little bit, looking over her shoulder.

If Theseus sees him Newt would be able to convince him that he’s okay; he just wants to talk, to see him again.

Newt can’t let Theseus risk his life because of him.

“Where were you?” Tina demands, stepping out of his parents’ bedroom when he goes back. She doesn’t look happy.

“I couldn't–I thought I was ready, but when I saw his things all over the floor I couldn’t look at them…” Newt mumbles. He really trusts Tina, but he knows she wouldn’t agree to help him get out a second time. If she stops him, Theseus will try to get inside.

The vampire sighs, looking almost relieved and a little less upset. She takes a step closer and hugs him, pulling him close to her.

“Let’s go back, shall we? We cannot be here all day, someone could see us.”

Newt nods, already panicking.

Just three days left.


	7. Chapter 7

Newt pretends he’s asleep that night; he has so many things to do in order to get out of there on time to see his brother. He’s just planning on convincing him to leave him, although he knows that’ll be very difficult.

Percival opens the door and Newt closes his eyes, thinking about him as well, he wants to thank him for all he has done for him. He knows his life would be a nightmare if any other vampire had took him.

He’s not sure how he’d react if he knew what he’s going to do; Newt wants to be honest with him, the vampire deserves it, but he can’t risk not meeting his brother.

Theseus will try to get inside if he doesn’t see him and that will mean he could get caught and killed.

Newt would never let that happen.

Percival closes the door again and the human curls up on the bed, feeling a little bit lonely out of the sudden.

***

When he pays a visit to the Goldstein sisters the next day and realizes that it’s only Queenie and Jacob, Newt decides to steal some of Queenie’s lavender and Tina’s keys. It’s risky and yet instead of feeling nervous, Newt feels like the worst person in the world.

It’s like he’s betraying them all.

When he comes back from Tina’s bedroom, Queenie and Jacob are still in the kitchen; Newt sits back on the couch as if nothing happened and sighs, only to be startled by Grindelwald.

“I’m sorry, Newton,” the vampire with mismatched eyes smiles, hands on his back. “Vampires can be very quiet sometimes, although I think you were distracted.”

Newt blushes, heart beating inside his chest rapidly… Although Grindelwald smirks and winks at him.

So… Is he joking? Or did he see Newt coming from Tina’s bedroom? No, that’s impossible.

“I have a surprise for you,” the vampire takes another step closer and Newt immediately thinks that’s another thing he’ll have to hide from Percival.

However he forgets everything that is worrying him when Grindelwald hands him a beautiful white wolf.

It’s just a pup. One that looks back at him and licks his cheek excitedly while waggling her tail.

“She’s beautiful,” Newt almost tears up, pulling the puppy against his chest lovingly.

“I’m glad you liked it,” Grindelwald runs his fingers through the human’s hair and Newt lets him.

“I love her already,” he mumbles honestly, beaming at the vampire who, for a moment, looks a bit flustered. “Thank you.”

Newt freezes suddenly, looking at the little wolf and wonders if Percival will allow him to have it in the house.

What if–

Grindelwald leans closer, tracing Newt’s cheekbone with his thumb.

“If Graves doesn’t let you have her, I’ll talk to him, darling. Don’t worry,” the vampire assures him and Newt has the feeling that he’s counting on it.

He wants to have a fight with Percival.

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Newt mumbles taking a step back and looking up in time for Queenie and Jacob to walk in the living room; the human sighs at his girlfriend when he sees Grindelwald.

They eat together and Jacob tries not to make any comments while Grindelwald makes conversation with Newt; the redhead is still so pleased with his wolf he doesn’t mind answering questions.

“Have you thought of a name yet?” The vampire grins, watching fondly as Newt kneels on the floor to play with the pup.

“Luna,” Newt says, giggling as the baby wolf jumps into his arms.

“It suits her,” Grindelwald nods.

The front door opens and Tina freezes for a moment on the doorway.

She looks at her sister with something like panic in her eyes. The vampire realizes then she’s being too obvious and glances back at Grindelwald with a smile on her face.

“Good afternoon, my lord,” Tina mumbles, trying to get herself together.

Grindelwald nods in her direction, takes Newt’s hand and kisses it before rising from his seat.

“It’s time for me to go, I’ll see you soon, Newton.”

Tina doesn’t move until the door is completely closed again. Then she narrows her eyes at Queenie.

“What was he doing here?”

“She likes to spend time with Newt, besides, I told you, he’s not bad,” Queenie insists and Jacob rolls his eyes.

“I don’t trust him, honey.”

“Me either,” Tina says and looks at Newt and the beautiful puppy at his feet. “This is not good.”

Newt hopes she’s wrong. Because he’s still not sure what he’s going to tell Percival.

***

He has already planned what he’s going to do; he’ll tell Percival the wolf was a gift from Queenie.

“What’s that, Newt?” Percival walks in Newt’s bedroom, eyes slowly narrowing as he gets closer and notices the creature.

Instinctively, the human takes Luna in his arms and pulls her against himself. There’s clearly something wrong.

“Where did you get it?” The vampire questions and now there’s concern and anger in his eyes; they turn a little bit red suddenly.

He knows.

“Uhh… I–”

“Newt, I saw Grindelwald with it the other day,” Percival looks at the wolf and the human flinches away. It makes the vampire’s expression turn into something like sadness. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“He gave it to me,” Newt admits then, guilt returning to his chest, feeling again like the worst human in the Capitol.

“When did you see him?” Percival is trying to control himself, but Newt can see he’s fuming. “Did he hurt you?”

He shakes his head.

“He’s been nice to me,” Newt mumbles. “Maybe he’s not as bad as you think…”

Percival sighs.

“Grindelwald must want something from you,” the vampire says and then he freezes, eyes turning into a darker shade of red. It’s like that time… when Percival rescued Newt, he was absolutely furious. “He wants you!”

“I don’t think–”

“You’re mine!” He blurts out, pacing around the room. “I’ll talk to him, I’ll make it clear to–”

“No!” Newt leaves Luna on the couch and cups Percival’s face in his hands, the vampire stops immediately and looks back at the redhead, his dark eyes are so vulnerable… lonely. “I think he just wants to provoke you. He wants to fight you…”

“He wants to have an excuse to challenge me,” Percival mumbles, taking a few steps forward until he finally buries his head in the curve of Newt’s neck. “Grindelwald wants to have you, but–”

“Please don’t fight him,” Newt begs, concern overwhelming him. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Percival looks up at him again with a surprised expression on his face; he leans only to rub his nose against Newt’s. The human blushes to the tip of his ears.

“I adore you,” the vampire admits, but the pain comes back to his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I knew you’d get… mad.”

But Percival looks almost devastated.

“You don’t trust me,” he says and Newt can’t respond anything to that because there’s still something he’s hiding he can’t tell him. Perhaps later… when he comes back. “It’s… understandable, after everything vampires have done to you, after what happened to your father, after what happened to you. But I thought I had proven you I would never–I’m not like them.”

“I know,” Newt mumbles, feeling tears in his eyes. “I’m grateful it was you… I really am.”

Percival kisses him on the cheek.

“I’m sorry, love, but you can’t get out anymore, at least not without me,” he says and Newt starts to panic. “I hope you don’t hate me for this, but it’s necessary. Grindelwald could hurt you.”

“But–”

“I’m sorry, Newt,” Percival looks away and his eyes find the wolf, curling at the human’s feet. “You can keep her.”

When they’re alone, Newt takes Luna and starts scratching the back of her ears.

“What are we gonna do?”

***

Newt knows Percival thinks he’s mad; he’s not, but he lets him think that and spends the rest of the next day in his room, drawing a simple map in a piece of paper; trying to remember the best way to get out of the Capitol without being noticed.

Now, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but he’s planning to come back, although by the look on Luna’s face it seems he’ll have to take her with him.

Of course, all doors and windows are closed, but Newt knows he can break one of those; he doesn’t know how he’s going to explain that to Percival, but he’ll deal with that when he comes back.

The most important thing at the moment is to make sure Theseus doesn’t try to come in the Capitol.

He doesn’t see Percival for the rest of the day and at night he doesn’t get out of his bedroom, but notices there’s a bouquet of flowers in the middle of the table the next morning and extra meat in the fridge for Luna.

Which of course makes him feel guilty again.

Perhaps when he comes back he can talk to Percival about everything and tell him how much he enjoys being with him.

But right now it’s not the time.

When he’s sure there’s no one else in the house but Luna and him, Newt applies the lavender all over his skin.

He takes a chair and breaks one of the back windows while the wolf moves away with her ears pointing downwards.

“It’s okay, Luna,” Newt assures her, even though he’s panicking. “We’ll be fine.”

He puts a couple of bedsheets on the edges, takes the pup in his arms and jumps to the other side.

It’s too early in the morning for humans to be walking around and even though if they saw him he’s sure they wouldn’t pay attention to him. However he needs to be careful; he doesn’t have Tina at his side this time.

He looks at a couple of girls, carrying some fabrics and quickly avoids looking at them; he pulls Luna closer to him, he knows wolves are not common in the Capitol, actually, he has the feeling he’s the only one who has a wolf.

The human keeps going, trying not to look nervous and takes a deep breath before approaching the small door; there’s no one around, but he’s shaking.

He closes the door behind him quickly and starts heading to his father’s house with Luna trotting right next to him.

It’s also not very common to find vampires at that hour, but it can happen and some of them have no respect for rules; that’s why Newt needs to be careful, at least he hopes the lavender works not to attract unwanted attention.

Stopping near the river to give Luna some water, Newt notices a couple of young humans playing around; he remembers when he used to do that with Theseus and grins for a moment.

It feels almost incredible, the possibility of seeing him again excites him.

What if it’s not real? What if she lied to him?

No, it has to be true. Newt knows–hopes it is.

This time finding the door of his old house ajar doesn’t surprise him, but he still walks in carefully, trying not to make a sound, staying right next to the entrance in case he needs to run.

There’s a tall man looking at a picture of him, his arms are inked and even though Newt can’t see his face, he notices the daggers and the bow on his back.

Newt tries to get out, but the man turns quickly and steps into the light.

“Little one?”

Overwhelmed with happiness, Newt burst into tears.


	8. Chapter 8

He can hears his own sobs, but he’s trying hard to blink his tears away because his vision has turned blurry and he wants to see Theseus… He’s changed; he’s taller now, his arms are inked, covered in symbols and images Newt doesn’t understand.

He’s certainly stronger now, Newt feels it as soon as Theseus closes the distance between the two and takes him in his arms.

“Little one!” His brother’s voice breaks, he’s shaking and staring at him with desperate hope. The kisses that are pressed all over Newt’s face, that’s covered in tears, only make him sob harder. “I’ve missed you! I thought I had lost you!”

“I was afraid something had happened to you!” Newt cries, fingertips trembling as he caresses Theseus’s face. There’s now a scar on his cheekbone and Newt knows there’s more underneath his clothes. “I just wanted to see you again.”

“I’m here, little one,” Theseus presses his lips against Newt’s right temple; he starts apologizing profusely. “I shouldn’t have left you here, I should have taken you with me. It’s my fault you were… I–I can’t believe our father did that to you… I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“It’s not your fault, ‘Seus, you could’ve never–” Newt stops when he hears a soft growl at his feet; Luna seems stressed, looking at the front door and baring her teeth.

“Is that a wolf, Newt?” Theseus looks back at the creature before narrowing his eyes when a woman with short, white hair walks in the house with a dagger on her hip.

Luna snarls, but the woman ignores the pup and glances at Newt with a smile on her face.

“Is that him, boss? Oh! It’s a pleasure, I’m Amy!”

“Mason could you please leave us alone for a couple of minutes?” Theseus scolds, irritated.

“Of course, Sir, sorry! I’ll keep Williams company,” she mumbles, before running away.

“So… Is it true then? You found them? The hunters?”

Theseus smiles back at him and nods.

“Yes, they have a place nearby, it’s protected and many people live there too and…” He grimaces before adding: “one of them, our leader is… Well, you’ll see. We’re gonna leave in a couple of minutes anyway.”

“Wait, 'Seus… I have to go back,” it never occurred to Newt that his brother would ask him to go with him, perhaps because he was just too focused on seeing him again.

He’d love to go with Theseus, but there are vampires in there that have become his friends… the least he can do is to say goodbye.

Although part of him is starting to feel cold pain just at the thought of never seeing Percival again.

“What do you mean you have to? Newt, you don’t have to be afraid anymore!” Theseus cups the redhead’s face in his hands. “I’ll protect you! They’ll never find you again.”

“You don’t understand, not all of them are bad. Percy has been taking care of me all this time,” Newt insists and tries to explain to Theseus what happened, but his brother doesn’t seem to be listening. “At least let me say goodbye!”

“If you go back, he’ll never let you go again, Newt!” His brother protests. “They’re vampires! You can’t really trust them completely. I don’t trust them, even if–it doesn’t matter now… Just please, Newt, come with me.”

Theseus has tears in his eyes; Newt knows he’s always been there for him, even before he met Percival.

He’s the only family he has left.

Newt has missed him and it’d break his heart to see him leave, but he knows he’d miss his friends…

Either way he’s going to get his heart broken.

“I don’t want to lose you again, little one,” Theseus pulls him against his body. “You know you don’t belong here.”

Perhaps he’s right.

“I’ll g-go with you,” he mumbles, trying not to sound as sad as he feels.

His heart is warm again though, not everything is painful because at least he’ll get to be with Theseus again.

***

Newt is not sure what his brother thinks is nearby, but that’s not it. They started traveling in the morning and it’s getting dark already.

He’s glad to be focusing on the journey and Luna’s needs, because that helps him not to think about Percival… Is he worried? Is he looking for him? Did he find out that Tina helped him the other day? Is she in trouble?

“We’re gonna sleep here,” Theseus tells the others who start inspecting the area to make sure it’s safe.

Newt gives Luna some water and food; the pup jumps happily from one place to another, sniffing anything that comes in her way.

Theseus sets up a tent with some sheets and covers he finds in the bag the other man named Williams was carrying.

“We’re going to sleep here, little one. Well, mostly you because I have to take the first watch.” He smiles and kisses him on the cheek.

“I can help you,” Newt mumbles, flustered out of the sudden; he obviously doesn’t know anything about it, but he doesn’t like to feel useless.

“There’s no need, you should rest instead. Come, sit next to me.”

Newt does as he’s told and immediately rolls his eyes when Theseus leans closer to look at his neck; he’s almost in shock when he doesn’t find marks on it.

“But you were in the Capitol… How–”

“I told you Percy was kind to me,” Newt cuts him off, prompting him to take the redhead’s wrist and narrow his eyes.

“You’ve been bitten a couple of times,” he almost growls.

“The donation center,” Newt reminds him and decides he’s not going to mention the incident with Tina.

“So… you’re telling me the vampire who bought you never fed from you?” Theseus quirks up a brow at him, incredulous.

“Not even once.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s good,” suddenly, he turns completely tense, it’s almost like he’s been hit with something. “Did he… Did he touch you?”

Newt can’t help but turn red when he understands what Theseus is trying to say.

“Never.” He assures him and he can see the relief spreading all over Theseus’s face.

He still wants to tell his brother about Percival and his friends, but Theseus just pulls him into his arms again, promising to keep him safe. It’s impossible to say anything else at the moment.

Then Luna joins them and Newt decides not to talk about it, at least not that day.

“Get some sleep, little brother,” Theseus kisses him on his curls and leaves him in the tent with the pup curled up against him.

He only wakes up for a couple of seconds in the middle of the night, when Theseus comes back to their tent, lies next to Newt and takes him in his arms, despite of Luna’s protests.

***

They still keep walking for a couple of hours more the next morning. Williams (Newt doesn’t know the man’s first name) and Amy start asking him questions about the Capitol.

Much to Theseus’ irritation, he starts telling them about his friends as well.

“He didn’t bite you?” The woman is bewildered and the man just blinks like he can’t quite believe it. “Then why did he buy you then?”

“I think he just wanted to help me. He’s a good–”

“You can’t trust vampires,” Theseus frowns at the other hunters.

“Dumbledore has mentioned that not all vampires want to have humans as slaves,” Williams comments, but he regrets it almost immediately when he sees the way Theseus grimaces.

“Of course he’d say something like that,” he rolls his eyes. “I still don’t trust them.”

“Who’s Dumbledore?” Newt asks, curious.

“The one that started all; our leader,” Amy says. “You’ll meet him soon.”

They reach what it looks like an old cave by noon and Luna’s starts growling at it; Newt has to take her in his arms to calm her down.

The place Theseus mentioned before is at the other side and it looks like a small village; the sight of it makes Newt gasp, fascinated.

The little wolf starts moving uncomfortable in Newt’s hands until he lets her on the floor. The hunters watching the entrance look at her with amusement at least until they see Theseus.

“Welcome back,” they say, glancing at everyone, including Newt. “Dumbledore has been waiting for you.”

The guards open the gates for them; Newt follows Theseus and looks around with fascination at every single house and construction he can see.

Some of the residents walking on the streets stop to look and wave at them with gentle smiles on their faces.

Although that doesn’t help Theseus to look more enthusiastic about his return.

By the time they reach the manor where Dumbledore lives and walk into the living room, his brother is clearly tense again.

“What is it, 'Seus?”

“I don’t trust him,” Theseus confesses in a whisper, which makes Newt frown in confusion.

“But he has helped lots of people, Amy said that… And he’s the one that started–”

“I hope you’re not too tired to keep me company for a while,” a kind voice says and when Newt finally looks in his direction he gasps, surprised. “You must be Newt. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Albus Dumbledore, but you can call me Albus.”

“Nice to meet you,” Newt mumbles, trying to recover from the fact that the leader of their community is a vampire.

A vampire; one that has been training lots of people to fight vampires like him. Newt doesn’t know the whole story, there must be a reason why Albus decided to do that.

Although at least he understands why Theseus doesn’t trust him. His brother has always hated vampires.

“The pleasure is mine, Newt,” Albus takes his hand and kisses the back of it gently.

Theseus closes his hands into fists, but fortunately he doesn’t move from his place.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” The vampire asks and for moment Newt has the silly idea that he’s only talking to him.

Newt has so many questions in his mind and he decides to focus on all of them in order not to think about Percival.

His heart hurts whenever he thinks of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a poll on my Patreon a while ago so I made a few changes in the story based on the results. <3 Thanks for your comments; I'm so happy you like this so far!


	9. Chapter 9

Albus listens patiently to the information they have gathered during the time the hunters were keeping an eye on the Capitol. He also asks Newt a couple of questions about Luna; the wolf seems to like him and even though the human knows he’s pretty much interested in what he has to say about his time as a slave, he doesn’t ask him too much about it.

Newt doesn’t want to talk about it yet; it’s not like he had a bad experience there, but he’s still hurt about having to leave his friends. He misses Percival already.

“How are you feeling, Newt?” Albus strokes his right cheek with his thumb, gently, almost like he’s afraid of hurting him accidentally. “I just want to know if you don’t have any injuries or wounds we should know about…”

Newt shakes his head; he’s still not sure why his brother is so tense, it’s obvious that Albus is not going to hurt him. The vampire is the one that’s been helping all those humans.

“I’m fine,” he assures and notices that Albus’s blue eyes looking at his neck. “I… He never hurt me, he didn’t feed from me.”

“Your vampire was kind to you.”

“Yes, h-he was,” Newt blinks a couple of times, fighting the need to cry; his pup seems to feel his distress, because she jumps over his lap and nuzzles his chest.

“You must be tired,” Albus observes, running his fingers through Newt’s reddish hair. “I’m sorry for keeping you here for so long. Your brother will take you to his house. Please, try to sleep. Tomorrow I’d like to speak with you again, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Newt mumbles, smiling, before his brother can say anything. He rises from his seat, taking Luna in his arms.

Albus follows him to the entrance, keeping his blue eyes on Newt the whole time.

“I’m glad to have you here with us, Newt,” he whispers and the human nods, but he can’t say he’s glad too…

At least not yet, not completely happy.

***

“I don’t like the way he looks at you,” Theseus snarls as soon as they get in his house.

Newt just rolls his eyes at that and keeps looking around; the house is way smaller than Percival’s but it’s nice. It’s really impressive considering the time his brother has been there, it seems he is indeed part of that community now.

“He’s just curious, Theseus,” Newt tries to calm him down when his brother keeps growling. “Stop being like that. I know he’s a vampire and you don’t trust them, but some vampires are good.”

Theseus’s lips part and Newt shakes his head before he can keep going.

“He gave you a home.”

“It wasn’t a home until now,” Theseus takes Newt in his arms and kisses him on the cheek. “But I guess you’re right, he helped me. Although I’ll be with you tomorrow when you talk to him.”

“Fine,” Newt sighs, pretending to be irritated, but the truth is he likes the idea of having his brother around. He has missed him. “Now please show me my room so Luna and I can sleep for a bit.”

“Of course, little one,” he says, grinning from ear to ear.

He leads him to a small room that’s next to his and mumbles something about making dinner for the both of them before walking away.

Newt jumps over the bed and falls asleep with Luna curled up next to him.

***

*The day before. The Capitol*

It’s already getting dark when Graves appears on their doorstep; Queenie is the one that opens the door and lets him in.

The distress and pain on his face makes her think that tragedy is on its way for some reason. Something is going to happen.

“I just came to see Newt,” he looks down, almost ashamed of himself. Tina rises from her spot on the couch immediately; her features twist in shock and panic as soon as she hears the other vampire speak.

Jacob gasps, probably feeling that something bad is going on as well.

“I know I shouldn’t have locked him in the house,” he keeps talking and none of the others have the strength to interrupt him and tell him the truth. “He’s right to be angry, but I’d like to see him… I want to apologise. Please… Let me see him.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Graves,” Queenie mumbles; the concern for their friend is already affecting them as well. “Newt hasn’t come here since… yesterday.”

It’s almost painful to see the way Graves crumbles before her; the suffering, the pain and the desperation in his eyes.

Queenie has always been good at reading others faces; she can almost know what they’re feeling at the moment and that’s one the things that made Grindelwald speak to her in the first place.

She can know, just with a quick glance that Graves is completely in love with Newt and not knowing where he could be is definitely tearing him apart.

Although part of his pain quickly turns into anger and Queenie, Jacob and Tina shiver for a second.

“Grindelwald has him, doesn’t he?”

“No, Mr. Graves, I don’t think–”

He doesn’t listen to her, he just storms away and Queenie and Tina have to follow him, right after the younger of the sisters asks his boyfriend to stay there. Jacob hates being left behind, but he knows they’re vampires and he can’t go as fast as them.

“Mr. Graves, Sir… Wait!” It’s useless. Tina tries to get his attention, but he’s so consumed by hurt and anger he cannot hear her.

The problem is that his presence is going to piss off Grindelwald and he’s an old, powerful vampire.

They could easily kill each other during a fight… Well, Queenie actually thinks Grindelwald is in fact stronger than Graves.

The other vampire smirks when he sees Graves so angry, it’s almost like he wants to fight with him.

“So you found out about the wolf, didn’t you?”

“Where is Newt? Where are you keeping my human?” Graves snarls, baring his fangs at him.

But Grindelwald doesn’t get irritated or angry at the other, instead, his expression turns into worry, something Queenie had never seen before.

Which of course, confirms everyone’s worst fear. Newt is not in the Capitol anymore.

“He’s not with you?” Grindelwald growls back, glaring at the three of them. “Did you lose Newton?”

That just pisses Graves off even more, but before he could say anything else, Tina intervenes.

“I think I know where he is,” she mumbles and Queenie takes her sister’s hand, trying to warn her. It’s not wise to tell them the whole truth… yet. “He mentioned something about his father the other day.”

Both vampires seem to feel she’s hiding something, but they’re so focused on Newt to care about anything else.

***

Newt’s old house is completely empty, which makes things even worse.

“He can’t survive out there on his own,” Grindelwald starts pacing around the living room; he’s about to lose it.

Graves face is twisted in pain; they both look like they are being tortured and Queenie is starting to feel the same panic.

“We need to look for him,” Graves mumbles, desperate.

“The area around this place is huge,” Grindelwald growls. “We need something… A clue… We need to get an idea in which direction he could go.”

Tina gasps when she notices the woman looking from the window of the next house. She tries to hide when she realizes she’s been spotted, but it’s too late for her.

Both Graves and Grindelwald storm inside her house; she’s trembling.

“You must know Newton Scamander, you have lived here all your life, haven’t you?” Graves says and the poor woman’s response is just a nod. Grindelwald glares at her.

“Have you seen him today?” He narrows his eyes, getting closer to her and the woman takes a few steps back.

“N-No,” she stammers and it’s so obvious she knows something. Queenie almost feels sorry for her, but hiding information won’t keep Newt safe. He could be in danger.

“Miss Goldstein?” Grindelwald asks for confirmation.

“She’s lying.”

The woman falls to the ground, terrified. She’s shaking and rising her hands in front of her as a form of surrender.

“Please… Don't–”

“I won’t hurt you if you tell me where Newton is,” Grindelwald insists and even though Queenie can see Graves is not happy to see the woman so scared, he reminds silent. He’s desperate to get information on Newt as well.

Both vampires take a step closer to her and the woman sobs.

“His brother came back and took him. He took him a-away.”


	10. Chapter 10

Queenie takes a step back when she sees the desperation and fury on Grindelwald's face; only then she starts to wonder if she made the right choice when she decided to trust him.

"I thought he was dead," Graves mumbles, there are many emotions written all over his face; desperation, loneliness and concern.

"Everyone did," Tina nods. "When Newt told me about him, well... I actually believed he had decided to abandon his family. Also, it's almost a miracle he–"

"Where did he take him?" Grindelwald growls at the woman, completely ignoring Tina.

"I–I don't..."

"Perhaps this is what Newt wants," Graves argues and Queenie can see how just saying that is tearing him apart, he looks almost sick and tired.

"We don't know if they can survive out there," Grindelwald narrows his eyes. "We couldn't know if that brother of his will take care of him... Would you be able to live not knowing what happened to Newton? If he's okay? No one can take care of him as well as we do, Graves. He belongs here," the vampire says, determined and passionate. Queenie would even say he looks almost obsessed.

But it's working. Graves starts thinking of all the possibilities, all the things that could go wrong and how much he'll miss Newt.

He's not sure he can live without him.

"Even if you don't want to look for him, I will," Grindelwald says, which makes Graves bare his teeth at him.

"He's _mine_ ," he snarls immediately, but all vampires are like that. Jealousy and possessiveness are their weaknesses.

"For now."

Before Graves can take a step closer to Grindelwald, eyes completely red with anger, Tina decides to get closer to the terrified human.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" She mumbles, trying to look kind and patient, even though she's also worried about Newt, neither of them know his brother at all; they don't know if he's a good person or not.

After all at this point they know Newt ended up in the Capitol because his own father sold him.

"I... I'm not... sure," she doesn't trust them, Queenie observes, but why would she? They have done nothing but scare and threaten her.

"We just want Newt to be safe," Tina insists, but she doesn't seem to believe her. Although there's no need for gentleness when there's a vampire with mismatched eyes that looks absolutely terrifying when he's pissed.

"His brother is a hunter now!" The woman blurts out when Grindelwald glares at her. "I don't know where they are, I swear! I just know he's with a group of hunters."

"I thought they were a myth," Queenie mumbles, shivering for a moment. Graves and Grindelwald don't look too surprised though.

"Makes sense. Newt's brother always hated vampires," Graves comments and everyone looks at him with confusion.

"You know his brother?" Tina can't help but ask.

"I met Newt... before he arrived at the Capitol," Graves explains, he doesn't look that comfortable talking about it. "He doesn't remember, although perhaps it's better that way. His brother saw me... with Newt that day and lost it. I am sure he still hates me..."

It's killing him... Every single word hurts him and when he stops, Queenie knows he's determined to not talk about it again, even though it's clear there's something more in the story he doesn't want them to know.

"I have a plan to bring him back," Grindelwald says, looking at the other three vampires. "And I want to know if you're gonna help me or–"

"I will," Graves cuts him off. "I want to see him again."

Even though the Goldstein sisters know something is going to happen, they also agree to help Grindelwald.

***

Newt almost calls his vampire's name the next morning; he wakes up suddenly and jumps off the bed. Luna is following him behind and he's about to tell Percival he's actually not angry with him when he sees Theseus making breakfast.

"Morning, little one," he says, with a huge smile on his face as he leans and kisses Newt's forehead.

"Mo-orning, Theseus," Newt blinks a couple of times, reminding himself where he is now. He tries not to look disappointed.

Well, it's not like he's not happy, he is, after all he's with his brother again, but he still misses his friends.

Newt's in the living room when another hunter arrives and starts talking with Theseus, not only seems that the people around here respect him, but they actually come to the house to give him information about what's happening.

"Good morning, Newt," he also mumbles at him, looking with curiosity at the wolf on the redhead's lap.

"Good morning," he replies, a little bit shy; he's pretty sure he hasn't met that man, but it seems that everyone knows about him now.

"The twins have been sent to keep an eye on the Capitol this time," he informs Theseus, who simply nods. "Dumbledore wants you to patrol this day, you and your team."

Theseus doesn't look happy at all and he almost growls when the other hunter adds: "He also asked for Newt; he wants to know if you will join him today."

"Of course," the redhead nods; he likes Albus and he must admit he's grateful that he helped Theseus when he needed it the most.

"How convenient," his brother grumbles, surprising the hunter a bit.

"Don't be like that, 'Seus," Newt scolds, kissing his brother's cheek. "I'll be fine and I think you know it. You know he wouldn't hurt me."

Despite of himself, Theseus nods and sighs, almost defeated.

"I guess you're right. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Newt rolls his eyes.

"I see you tonight, 'Seus," he promises and his brother pulls him into his arms before adding, looking at Luna: "Take care of him for me, will you?"

The puppy moves closer to Newt happily, as if she understands perfectly what Theseus is saying.

***

This time Albus and he walk around the village; the vampire starts explaining to him how everything works around there while Newt keeps glancing at everything with fascination.

Luna seems as curious and delighted as he is.

"You know, to be part of this community you don't need to become a hunter," Albus says, offering his arm to Newt who takes it, feeling a little bit shy out of the sudden. "You can help us doing something else."

Newt nods, feeling relieved; he doesn't think he'd like to start hunting vampires.

"However you still have to learn how to defend yourself," Albus strokes Newt's cheek gently, right before waving at a woman who's knitting outside her house. She waves back at them both and looks at Newt with curiosity and amusement.

In fact, they all seem to be curious about him, although that's probably because he's walking next to Albus, he supposes.

A man carrying fruits in a basket, offers them some apples.

"Thank you," Newt mumbles happily.

"You're welcome," he smiles back, then he glances at Albus and adds, amused: "He's beautiful, Sir. You're lucky."

The vampire looks surprised for a moment and then suddenly flustered; it's weird to see someone like him acting like that since he's normally so composed.

"Thank you, Samuel," he finally mumbles after a while, although Newt has the impression he wants to say something else.

When they're back in Albus's house, the vampire makes him hot chocolate and feeds Luna. Newt sits on the couch, feeling a little bit better than yesterday and smiles, pleased, as he takes a sip of his chocolate and Albus sits next to him.

"So... you have never been bitten on the neck?" He asks just as his blue eyes explore Newt's creamy skin curiously.

"No," he says then. Albus moves closer to him.

"It seems like everyone there was very nice to you," Albus observes and Newt looks back.

"They were, some vampires are good and kind," he says honestly and by the way Albus's face softens at that, it seems he believes him.

"I'm glad to know you still trust some of us," Albus comments, running his fingers through Newt's hair. He gets distracted when Luna jumps on the redhead's lap.

The vampire chuckles, amused.

"I'm curious... how did you get her?"

"It was a gift."

"Your vampire gave her to you?"

"No, actually... It was a vampire named Gellert Grindelwald," Newt says, not noticing how Albus expression twists in shock. "I still don't know why he did that."

"We were... close," Albus confesses after a moment of silence, looking sad. "But we realized soon we had very different opinions on how to take care of humans."

Without thinking too much about what he's doing, Newt leans to put his arms around Albus; the vampire sighs and hugs him back, being careful not to hurt Luna in the process.

"Knowing he gave you this, makes me think there's still hope," the vampire admits, confusing Newt a little.

Newt thinks is better not to make more questions at the moment. Besides, he gets distracted when Albus moves away a bit just to smile fondly at him before kissing him on the forehead.

He makes him promise he's going to pay him a visit the next day as well.

Theseus is not going to like it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like fics like this one consider checking out my tumblr blog: https://silverynight.tumblr.com/  
> Thank you! <3


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